


A Thousand Years - Deleted Scene

by DizzyDrea



Series: A Timeless Romance [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Deleted Scenes, F/M, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 15:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9129529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: Steve, Maria and Tony discuss an impossible theft from the Tower's vault.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was a deleted scene from _A Thousand Years_. I liked it, but eventually decided that it disrupted the flow of the story I was trying to tell, and strayed too far from the main focus of the story, namely the relationship between Steve and Maria. See the end notes for an explanation, since I don't want to spoil it here. Rather than just delete it and waste the words, I'm posting as it is without any editing. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: Captain America and all its particulars are the property of Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios, and a lot of other people who aren’t me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

They're in Maria's office, both of them working on their after-action reports, when Tony strolls in. He stops short when he sees Steve sitting behind Maria's desk, typing away on a laptop.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not paying you to sit there," he says as he collapses into one of the visitor's chairs in front of the desk.

"No, you pay me to sit there," Maria says from her spot on the couch, her bare feet propped up on the coffee table as she types on the laptop she's got balanced on her lap. They're both in sweats and t-shirts since neither of them is officially on duty. Not that it matters much to Tony. "But since it's my day off, you have nothing to complain about."

"It's going to be at least an hour before I finish this report," Steve says, "so unless you want to sit there and watch me type, I suggest you find something else to do."

Tony waves a hand at him. "Eh. I'll get it when I get it. I actually came down here for a different reason."

"And that would be?" Steve asks.

"So, that time-travel-inducing paperweight you brought me has disappeared from the vault."

Maria sits bolt upright, her laptop sliding off her lap as her eyes widen. "What did you say?"

Tony glances at her over his shoulder. "I put it in the vault right after I left the conference room. Just like I promised."

"JARVIS," Maria says, getting up and crossing the room to the large screen.

Footage of Tony depositing the artefact in the vault plays out in front of them. "I recorded Sir securing the artefact in my vault ten minutes after he left you in the conference room. I am programmed to monitor the vault at all times. There were no anomalous readings, no breaches in security and no one entered the vault once Sir left."

"You're sure?" Steve asks. It's not that he doubts JARVIS, but he knows how neurotic Tony is about security. His backup systems have redundancies.

"I am certain, Captain," JARVIS says. If it weren't for the fact that he's a computer, Steve would think he heard frustration in his tone. "The artefact is no longer in my vault. I took a standard inventory this morning, and that was the only item missing."

"And you have no idea who took it?" Maria asks. "No one else accessed the vault during the night?"

"Sir is the only one with access to this particular vault," JARVIS says. "And the encryption on the locking mechanism is more complex than that currently in use by the United States Military. No one gained access to that vault that I am aware of. Nor is there any footage of anyone but Sir inside the vault at any point last night."

"And yet the artefact is missing," Maria says. She turns towards Tony and Steve, hands on her hips. "How do you explain that?"

"I can't. Not yet, anyway. I did find one interesting thing," Tony says. The picture on the screen changes to a view of the interior of the vault. "This was on the shelf where I left the artefact."

The picture zeros in on the surface of the shelf, where a circle with a multi-point star inside has been burned into the metal.

Maria turns back to the screen. "What is it?" 

"The symbol of an ancient race of sorcerers, if rumors are to be believed," Tony says. "Of course, I don't believe a word of that bullshit."

"Still," Steve says. "Someone broke into what is, by all rights, an impenetrable vault. If anyone is qualified for something like that, I'd put my money on a sorcerer."

"You believe all that hocus-pocus, Cap?" Tony asks, one eyebrow raised. "I never took you for a fan of the Tooth Fairy."

"You're looking at one of two Super Soldiers in existence, Tony," Steve says, his own eyebrow raising. "You're good friends with a Norse god and a green rage monster. Are you telling me you don't believe in a little hocus-pocus?"

"I believe in science, Rogers," Tony says as he stands up. "Everything can be explained with science if you try hard enough."

"And if it can't be?" Steve asks.

"Then I try harder." Tony shrugs. "I'll figure it out, eventually. In the meantime, I've got a room full of new toys to play with."

And with that, Tony heads out of Maria's office. Maria sighs as she watches him go. "Why does this shit always happen to us?"

Steve snorts. "I have no idea."

~o~

**Author's Note:**

> The image burned into the shelf where the artefact had been sitting is an allusion to _Dr Strange_ and the idea that the artefact that sent Maria back in time is the Time Stone (or The Eye of Agamatto), because this was written around the time the movie came out. I know, I know... how would the Ancient One travel through time to retrieve the Time Stone if she didn't have the Time Stone? It's _fiction_ ; just go with it. ;)


End file.
